[Book Sip] Is "Walking Alone All Night" Decadent?…Historical Stories in Popular Songs

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This examines the era through songs loved by our people in the past. It looks back on history and illuminates the aspirations of past society and the people through songs such as "March for the Beloved," symbolizing the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement; "When That Day Comes," a memorial song for martyr Jeon Tae-il; "Morning Dew" and "Beauty," which were banned for absurd reasons; and "Rainy Honam Line," a memorial song for Haegong Shin Ik-hee. The familiar keyword "popular songs" guides readers to modern and contemporary history. It revisits the atmosphere of the time through the title song "Who Knows This Person?" and "The Lost 30 Years" from the 1983 special broadcast on the 30th anniversary of the armistice, "Looking for Separated Families." Through "Rainy Honam Line," it recalls the sorrow felt by the public when Shin Ik-hee, a leading presidential candidate, collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage on the Honam Line train ahead of the 1956 3rd presidential election. The song "Beauty" introduces the past when its lyrics "Once I see, twice I see, I keep wanting to see" were parodied on university campuses as "Once I do, twice I do, I keep wanting to do," leading to a ban. It also conveys the era when Yang Hee-eun's song "Unattainable Love," with the line "I walked alone on the white road all night," was banned for being considered decadent.

Interestingly, in connection with the situation at the time, Cho Yong-pil sounds as if he is shouting out against the suppression of democracy. "Wind" symbolizes the Chun Doo-hwan regime's media oppression, "The Fragile Woman" represents the media companies, including TBC Dongyang Broadcasting, that were being consolidated, and "Candlelight" symbolizes the hope that democracy will revive, albeit a very fragile hope. - p.25, from "The King of Singers' Loud Cry: 'Protect the Candlelight!'"

The symbol of the Yeongnam- Honam rivalry in the 1970s was not politicians but the rivalry between two male singers: Nam Jin from Mokpo and Na Hoon-a from Busan. After the aforementioned Na Hoon-a assault incident, the fans of the two singers growled even more fiercely. That much power was in the songs of the two singers to capture the hearts of the people from Yeongnam and Honam. - p.60, from "Regional Sentiment Manifested as a Rivalry Between Two Singers"

The challenging atmosphere created by artists such as Shin Joong-hyun and Kim Min-ki led the regime at the time to change its method of oppression. The result was the "Marijuana Incident." By staging the arrest of the top stars of the time, they tried to cut off the lifeline of the popular arts scene all at once. ... Surprisingly, until the mid-1970s, South Korea had inadequate legal measures regulating marijuana. The Marijuana Control Act was enacted in January 1977, two years after the Marijuana Incident in 1975, creating the strange situation of punishing first and legislating later. - p.83, from "Various Methods of Oppression"

After the armistice, the full-scale return from Busan to Seoul began. At the same time, the people who had fled started leaving Busan and moving back to Seoul, a scene captured in Nam In-su's "Farewell at Busan Station." - p.122, from "Capturing the Scenery of Busan in 1954"

The song that comforted many hearts during this period was Son In-ho's "Rainy Honam Line." This song gained nationwide popularity due to its lyrics seeming to mourn Shin Ik-hee's death. As a result, lyricist Son Ro-won, composer Park Chun-seok, and singer Son In-ho were reportedly taken by the police and suffered hardships. "Rainy Honam Line" was released three months before Shin Ik-hee's death and actually had no relation to his passing. - pp.137-138, from "The Death of a National Leader and Rainy Honam Line"

Those Songs We Loved Back Then | Written by Bae Gi-seong | Humyeong | 184 pages | 14,500 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.